News roundup - Tuesday, 30 July

Series of irregularities found in review of police reaction to school shooting post

LJUBLJANA - An Interior Ministry review of the police response to an anonymous fake online announcement of a school shooting incident in April has revealed various shortcomings and irregularities, including the stating of false information in official records, a criminal offence. Although police had been notified immediately by the news portal where the comment was posted, it has been revealed that direct efforts to find the author only began on 9 April, while grounds for ex officio prosecution were only established on 11 April.

Judoka Leški wins gold in women's 63kg category in Paris

PARIS, France - Slovenian judoka Andreja Leški won gold in the women's 63kg category at the Summer Olympics in what is the first medal for Slovenia in Paris, defeating Prisca Awiti Alcaraz of Mexico in the finals with an ippon. "Unbelievable! This is a fairy tale. I had the desire, I was focused and I believed in myself," Leški told the media after the win. Her gold continues a series started 20 years as part of which Slovenia has won an Olympic medal in judo for six consecutive Summer Olympic Games.

Slovenia urges electoral process transparency in Venezuela

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Foreign Ministry has called on Venezuela to ensure transparency of the electoral process and respect the will of people after President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of Sunday's election, which provoked protests that have claimed one life. "Slovenia calls on the Venezuelan authorities to exercise maximum transparency in the electoral process and to respect the will of people of Venezuela," the ministry wrote on its X profile.

Caritas Slovenia sending EUR 100,000 worth of supplies to Lebanon

BRNIK - Caritas Slovenia and several partners will send a container of material aid worth more than EUR 100,000 to Lebanon in early August. The aid, including medical, sanitary and dental supplies, is also intended for victims of domestic violence in the country, which is experiencing a complex humanitarian crisis. Slovenia has provided a total of EUR 3.5 million in humanitarian aid to Lebanon over the past five years, Edvin Skrt of the Foreign Ministry told reporters.

Much work done in first year after floods, but progress in some areas slow

LJUBLJANA - Sunday will mark one year since the worst floods in Slovenia's history. After the emergency response and rapid financial assistance from the state, the affected municipalities and residents are now expecting effective reconstruction and protective measures for the future, along with less red tape to speed up aid. Boštjan Šefic, the head of the government's reconstruction office, says that a lot has been achieved in the first year. "We will not let anyone down," he told the STA.

Study shows preferential voting not key on women getting elected

LJUBLJANA - A study on gender equality in European elections conducted in Slovenia showed that visibility, experience and investing in the campaign have a stronger influence on women getting elected than preferential vote. The authors, the Slovenian Women's Lobby and the advocacy group for fair European elections for women, proposed several changes to legislation to reach gender parity, including a mandatory zipper system and all top candidates being of one gender at one election and of the other at the next.

Appliance maker Gorenje records EUR 2.5 billion in revenue

VELENJE - Gorenje, the Chinese-owned household appliances and consumer electronics maker, posted EUR 2.53 billion in net sales revenue in 2023, up 16% from 2022. The net profit was up by 468% to EUR 21 million, shows the annual report. The company's revenue was boosted by a larger economy of scale, higher productivity, better cost management and a more favourable product structure, the report shows. The Velenje company is the main manufacturing company in the Hisense Europe group, based in Ljubljana.

Medical certificates forged in scramble for public housing

LJUBLJANA - Demand for public housing in Ljubljana is so huge that quite some applicants have forged medical certificates to score extra points to make them eligible for the few available non-profit rental flats. The Ljubljana Public Housing Fund received 3,585 applications for 200 non-profit flats for rent in a call published last autumn. Having checked the medical certificates, it found that more than 50 were falsified, the newspapers Delo and Slovenske Novice reported.

Storks nesting in Slovenia early and in record numbers

LJUBLJANA - A record 311 white stork pairs nested in Slovenia this year and 673 baby storks flew from the nests, which is also an all-time high, according to the 26th white stork census by the Bird Watching Association (DOPPS). Many storks arrived in Slovenia earlier than usual due to a mild winter. Until this year the highest number of stork pairs nesting in Slovenia was 300, recorded in 2023, and the most baby storks made it out of their nests in 2020 when there were 596 chicks.

Slovenian volleyballers beat Serbia, make it to quarter-finals

PARIS, France - The Slovenian men's volleyball team defeated Serbia 3:0 at the Summer Olympics to secure a berth in the quarter-finals ahead of the third and last match of the preliminary round Group A against the defending Olympic champions and hosts France on Friday. This is a second win for Slovenia in as many games in South Paris Arena 1 in what is their debut Olympic appearance in Paris, the first win coming against Canada last Sunday.

Canoeist Savšek loses Olympic medal to penalty

PARIS, France - Slovenia's canoeist Benjamin Savšek, who won Olympic gold in Tokyo in the canoe slalom event, placed 11th at the Paris Games after receiving a 50-second penalty. Gold went to Frenchman Nicolas Gestin who had the fastest time in all three rounds. "I'm at a loss for words because I feel I was penalised unfairly," said Savšek who would have placed third had it not been for the 50-second penalty. Silver went to the UK's Adam Burgess and bronze to Slovak Matej Benuš.

Women's handball team helpless against Germany

PARIS, France - The Slovenian women's handball team suffered a 22:41 (9:16) defeat against Germany in their third match at the Paris Olympics. Currently in last place in their group with one win and two defeats, they will face off Norway on Thursday and Sweden on Saturday. "It would be important for us to lose the match with a small goal difference ... but we lost very convincingly," said the team's coach Dragan Adžić, describing the result as a significant setback.